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MC2019 · 14-01-2012, 13:34

Wow that AIS link at the top of the thread shows the cruise ship going between rocks. What the hell was he thinking. I would have though twice about going through that with my 18 foot avon ......

xymotic · 14-01-2012, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackconsult

Wow that AIS link at the top of the thread shows the cruise ship going between rocks. What the hell was he thinking. I would have though twice about going through that with my 18 foot avon ......

Yeah, it's kinda hard to judge distance from the pic... but it's not looking too good for the decision-making skills of the captain/crew.

And don't forget, they did this at night too. so what was the point of it?

deckofficer · 14-01-2012, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by xymotic

And don't forget, they did this at night too. so what was the point of it?

Maybe give passengers a closer view of the shore side lights???

MC2019 · 14-01-2012, 14:05

Ah that is pretty silly.

Lets see went between rocks, in the middle of night, at great speed .......

Quote:

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Maybe give passengers a closer view of the shore side lights???

xymotic · 14-01-2012, 14:06

I dunno it looks like it's just two uninhabited rock outcroppings.

I try not to be superstitious,

but never begin a voyage on a Friday.
ESPECIALLY Friday the 13th!

**minaret** · 14-01-2012, 14:06

The skipper is being charged with negligent manslaughter and abandoning his vessel. Looks like more info will come out soon.

Police arrest Italian captain of cruise ship that ran aground, killing 3 | News - Home

Looks like no Mayday was sent until well after evacuation procedures had begun. They are now saying the hull breach is 90m long. Also that the boat was 2.5 miles off it's intended course when the collision occured. I wonder if we're looking at another case of a drunk skipper? I don't know how fast she was going when she made contact, but here in Puget Sound the many cruise ships are required to do less than their usual speed. They still average about 20 knots, well below the speeds they cruise at, but still more than fast enough for a truly catastrophic collision.

MacG · 14-01-2012, 14:13

There is much more to that and the witness reports from returning passengers are just confirming a number of issues already brought forward.

IslandHopper · 14-01-2012, 14:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patient

Another news source said it rammed the pier as shown in the picture below.

Source: The Daily Mirror

Here it is at dawn:

Source: Cruise, Ship Reviews Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Holland American

What I don't understand is how it has moved so far away from the pier, which is not even visible in the image above.

I would say it's nothing more than the camera angle in the first shot, if she was lying alongside the breakwater she would dwarf the lighthouse, a clue is the two persons walking along the breakwater. I would say she didn't get any closer than where she now rests....

BBC News - Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia: Search for missing

As far as commenting on the how and why, i think i will wait for a bit more factual info to come out...

S/V Alchemy · 14-01-2012, 14:23

"Hit a sandbank", my ass. That ship gouged a 90 metre gash in its side. That means it hit sharp rocks at speed. It's very tragic, and from some of the reports I'm seeing, the captain's behaviour was not up to par:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/14/world/...ths/?hpt=hp_t1

"The Italian captain of the cruise ship that ran aground -- killing three people and injuring 20 more -- was arrested late Saturday and is being investigated for abandoning ship and manslaughter, said a local prosecutor in Grosetto, Italy.

Abandoning ship is the more serious of the potential charges, authorities said...

Authorities were looking at why the ship didn't hail a mayday during the accident near the Italian island of Giglio on Friday night, officials said.,,,The ship was 2.5 miles off route when it struck a rocky sandbar, according to the Italian Coast Guard. Local fishermen say the island coast of Giglio is known for its rocky sea floor."

I really hate modern cruise ships and the half-assed, cheap way they are run and crewed. Why not put pontoons and a giant outboard on a Bahamian hotel? You get the same effect. There can be no excuse these days for this sort of incident. Watchkeeping? Radar? Depth alarm? This reminds me of the Andrea Doria incident, except that seaworthiness engineering was not as well understood in the 1950s as now. Still, if the ship "falls over", half your lifeboats are usually unusable.

Good grief, the thing's got the lines of a masochist's suppository. I would be ashamed to be seen on it, never mind to die because some idiot wasn't doing his job. A very sad and, I would think, easily avoidable incident. As in "look out the bloody window" avoidable.

xymotic · 14-01-2012, 14:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by minaret

The skipper is being charged with negligent manslaughter and abandoning his vessel. Looks like more info will come out soon.

Not a very well written story. It says 'investigated for manslaughter' A few others I have read said he'd been detained as a material witness. Which makes WAY more sense. No way are they gonna charge him the next day.

They ain't letting him go either though

MacG · 14-01-2012, 14:42

The captain has been taken in preventive custody. The two rocks, "La Scola" are just located on the admiralty charts, according to the Garda di finanza - the captain left his vessel at 22.30 when a large number of passengers were still on board who did not abandon ship earlier than 3.00.
Crew showed up to be not capable to manage the lifeboats, some passengers with proved seamanship took over the helm, according to an ex-naval officer who was on the cruise and took the helm of one of the lifeboats.
It is just the beginning of a huge pile-up of mistakes.

**David M** · 14-01-2012, 15:02

First day reports are pure speculation on the part of journalists with something like this. There were probably no journalists on the bridge at the time of the grounding. And even if a journalist was on the bridge, they would have no idea what they were looking at. It will be months before the big picture of what happened is put together.

kaimusailing · 14-01-2012, 15:04

Sorry about the accuracy of the other AIS link, this one is better.

COSTA CONCORDIA: i record dell

It didn't make sense until I saw this one. What an unbelievable blunder. What was he thinking? or did they have equipment failure.